Sub-nanosecond pulse generators are common components of carrier-less ultra-wideband (UWB) transmitters. These sub-nanosecond pulse generator are especially implemented in low-duty-cycle high-peak-power transmitters used in high-resolution ranging applications, for example. Most conventional pulse generators are now based on complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) or BiCMOS integrated circuit (IC) technologies as MOSFETs enable high speed switching.
However, these pulse-generator ICs usually cannot generate a voltage that is sufficiently high to drive highly resistive UWB antennas and to compensate for losses due to connectors, filters, or the like as the supply voltages for these pulse generators are typically around 1 V. Discrete step-recovery diodes (SRDs) have been implemented in an attempt to increase the voltage of the pulse-generator ICs. While SRDs provide an increase in voltage, such a hybrid solution is bulky, costly, and inefficient.
Accordingly, high-voltage impulse amplifiers are desirable.